alrighty then

i don’t even know where to start. i have a feeling that most of the people who read here realize that the world situation stinks right now. there really isn’t any denying the uneasy feeling most of us have in the pits of our stomachs waiting for that other shoe to drop. and yet, we still hop in our cars and go to the grocery store, secure in the knowledge that it is our right as americans to have food on our shelves. uh huh. what most folks don’t know is that there is currently a wheat shortage and a rice shortage worldwide due to blight, drought and hurricanes. most of the poorer countries raise crops for export to western countries- whatever is left- they get to eat. so, what does that mean? it means that millions of people are starving because almost everyone exports food in order to import it these days. yeah, doesn’t make sense to me either. and, it means, at the very least here in america, we are going to see food prices rise right along with gas and utilities and everything else. the era of cheap food is over.

and, it isn’t simply because of an actual shortage of food. rising fuel prices make the entire operation of food an expensive business. immediately, we think trucks and their big diesel engines- but i have learned that there is so very much more to the food industry. and, make no mistake- it is an industry. they don’t call it agribusiness for nothin’. fertilizers and pesticides and livestock feed, oh my! the cost is rising to produce all of those things due to the higher price of oil- but what most folks don’t realize is- it costs a lot of money to mine things too- and much of what we depend on in our daily lives- comes from underground. got an ‘fyi’ from a fellow blogger whose buddy works in the chemical industry (yep- our whole country is one big industry) and gave her the head’s up that potash, which apparently is one of 3 ingredients farmers use in their fields, is in tight supply and high demand. but wait! there’s more- caustic soda prices are on a high too- you guessed it- supply and demand again. what the hell is caustic soda?

“Hoard food, peeps. This is going to get really ugly in a few months. Literally everything you put in your mouths is processed by factories that clean and sanitize with either KOH or Caustic. There isn’t a pipe, conveyor, floor, holding tank, process line, etc that puts, meat, veggies, fruit, dairy or processed/packaged food into the food chain that will not be affected by this.”

so, everything we eat or drink comes via being sanitized and cleaned with a product that is in tight supply and high demand. and we hop into our cars and head to the supermart.

i guess you can probably tell that i am not a fan of grocery shopping. in fact, i would rather stab both eyes out with a spoon than go most days. everything about it sucks. so, in light that i am a rather crabby pessimist, i have decided to grow my own. my goal is to be as self sufficient as i can be so that i don’t have to give the corporates any more money and i only have to visit the store for toilet paper (i won’t go without that until the bitter end) and toothpaste. to that end, i have been researching and experimenting for a couple of years. hubby and recently purchased a home that has storage space and yard space in order to grow fruits, veggies and flowers. i haven’t had much time to devote to breaking ground this summer- mostly tomatoes- but i intend to intensively research a variety of topics- and i urge folks to really think about self sufficiency.

my thought is- prepare for the worst and hope for the best- and i don’t trust anyone. it sounds terrible, i know, but human nature being what it is- folks ultimately look out for themselves. i have tried to think of worst case scenarios and am planning my spread accordingly- and since it is really not on par with the size of the ponderosa- it is requiring some thought. i will give you a bullet list of topics i am currently researching- and please feel free to email me with questions as to links- or hey, google away- it’s what i did in the first place

composting

no till gardening

seed saving

root cellaring without a cellar

square foot gardening

preserving without canning, freezing methods

canning, freezing

companion gardening

natural pest control

4 season harvesting

water catchment

i am also thinking about personal security. not to scare anyone, but crime tends to go up when times get tough. folks who are ill prepared or ill equipped will take what you have- make no mistake. camouflage and defense are considerations we must take into account. here in america, we have pretty much always lived in relative safety. but if the current fools in office continue playing with fire and war- it is a real possibility that we could see war here in my lifetime- and yours. it is something to think about. right now, people in iraq and afghanistan are starving. people in pakistan are walking a thin line- and we know that there have been famines in africa for years. the world is seeing food riots- and it will only be so long before we fatties aren’t looked at as fair game.